Art has long been part of Nicole McNamara’s life since “the moment I picked up a crayon as a toddler.”
The Glen Ellyn-based abstract artist explained, “The world of art has captivated me. Yet, as I grew older, my passion was sidelined by my parents’ well-meaning advice, steering me toward a degree in advertising. For years, life took me in many different directions—I built a career, got married and started a family. Yet the yearning to create never faded.”
McNamara grew up in Nashville and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in advertising. She landed in the Learning and Development world for the majority of her early career years, where she helped others grow professionally.
“After that, I stepped away from the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, which was a rewarding chapter of my life,” said McNamara.
An existential turning point
Then, at age 38, McNamara reached a turning point in her life. She had what she calls “a deeply personal crisis that brought me to rock bottom,” where she had to find a way to “reconnect with myself, that inner child who had been quieted.”
McNamara said that, to outsiders, it would seem as if she had the perfect life and was “living the dream,” but that was the furthest thing from the truth. She developed deep depression and crippling anxiety and could not see a way out. This scared her, as well as her family, so much that she underwent intensive treatment at an inpatient facility for a week.
The reconnection with her inner child, and the new tools gained through treatment to confront her inner demons, gave McNamara permission to finally pursue her lifelong artistic dreams. She taught herself “how to oil paint by studying the scientific aspects of composition and color theory, art history and plain old trial-and-error. For the next seven years, it was a therapeutic process for me: a hobby, not a profession.”
McNamara describes her abstract art as “these tiny worlds of safety that I can live in and explore because there are an infinite amount of safe spaces.” She began to express her fear, anxiety, tension, anger, depression, yearning and an evolving maturity and joy in her art. McNamara also “sees an incredible amount of depth, which is reflective of my desire to make my emotions and life more tangible, trying to gain a sense of control, stability in a world that much of the time has felt very unstable.
“I began to paint while living in New Orleans, and when I moved to Glen Ellyn, I felt these unexpected connections to my past. The first place I noticed when searching for a home around here was 504 Crescent—ironically, 504 is the area code for New Orleans, and the city is known as the Crescent City. The fact that 504 Crescent in Glen Ellyn was also home to a Cajun restaurant called Rue made it feel like fate. Rue became the first place where I ever showcased my art, and it felt like a sign that I was meant to be here.”
Further revelations
Another realization changed McNamara’s life. She had always felt like something was absent in her romantic life, but didn’t know what that was until she walked into her team’s tennis drill two-and-a-half years ago and saw their new assistant coach, Kat Truman.
“I was instantly drawn to her; I had to meet her—just like I had been drawn to painting,” said McNamara. “It was as if I needed to meet her for my heart and soul. That same feeling hit me when I saw Kat; it was like the moment in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy steps into Oz and everything bursts into Technicolor. Life suddenly felt vibrant and exciting, something I had never experienced before.
“The challenge was that I was married to a man at the time. This realization would obviously lead to a difficult and painful transition for many, especially our children. I wanted to tell people immediately that I was gay, and had found the love of my life—and I did within two weeks of having met Kat. I didn’t want to keep it quiet or put this revelation back into the box. I was ready to live my life authentically. I told my family immediately. Both of my daughters embraced the news. One of them even said ‘Cool.’ The whole situation has been a transition for everyone.”
For Truman this new relationship with McNamara started out as a great friendship with someone whom she could have excellent conversations. Truman said they connected quickly and “I had never felt more seen, heard or understood in my life. As Nic said, my black and white world suddenly was bursting with color and a deeper understanding of life became clear to me. There was a deep understanding that she was someone very important to me, despite only knowing each other for a very short time. The most important person ever. I soon realized that my feelings for her were more than friendship.”
When McNamara isn’t focused on her art and children, she loves to play tennis with Truman. They also do a lot of house and yard projects, play games, go for walks and ponder life questions the news. McNamara and Truman are currently engaged but have not set a wedding date.
Through her painting and new found authenticity and security, McNamara eventually found the courage to investigate what she had always suspected were symptoms of ADHD.
“I always felt a lot of fear and shame around what an official diagnosis would mean,” said McNamara. “A branding of sorts that something was wrong with me. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as getting support and learning more about ADHD actually answered so many questions about my life. It was liberating.”
One of the ways Truman has helped McNamara achieve her artistic dreams is to encourage her to turn her hobby into a business. Together they launched Nicole McNamara Art in March 2024 to showcase and sell her prints as ready-to-hang wall art.
“Customers are purchasing art that not only enhances their environment, but also encourages them to live their most authentic life,” said McNamara. “We empower people, at any stage of life, to embrace their most authentic selves, inspiring them to navigate the necessary changes to live with purpose and truth.
McNamara has a number of showings of her work planned. Dates and locations are on her website’s Events page. She invites her audience “to connect with my work on a personal level—there’s nothing quite like feeling the energy and passion firsthand.”